Wednesday, January 6, 2010

FIRSTS ANSWERS

Here are the answers to yesterday’s quiz:

1. Though our calendar is off it is meant to mark the years since Jesus’ birth. The reason, however, that we do not start counting the New Year on December 25th is because officially we do not have a Christmas Day. Like the Easter Octave we have a Christmas Octave; eight days on which celebrate Christmas. It is one giant celebration. The Christmas season continues afterward but the Christmas Octave which is counted as a single day is over. If you went to Mass during the Octave you would have noticed that the Gloria was sung each day, there was the Creed, and inserts for the Roman Canon. On the last day of the octave, January 1st, we begin the New Year.

2. The first saint and the only male saint whose complete set of relics were given to the Church in the United States is Saint Datian. His relics are enshrined in New York City.

3. The first and only female saint whose complete relics were given to the Church in the United States is Saint Christine. She is also the last saint whose complete relics were given to the U. S. She is enshrined in the cathedral church of the Diocese of Cleveland. The relics were presented to Archbishop Schrembs in 1928 by Pope Pius XI. Tradition says that Christina was a girl of 13 or14 who died for her faith around the year 300. She was buried in the catacombs of St. Pontianus outside Rome which catacombs were discovered in the 18th century. Along with her bones there is a vile of her blood (long turned to powder.)

4. & 5. The First United States Citizen to become a saint was St. Francis Xavior Cabrini who was born in Italy and came to the United States. The first native born citizen of the United States to become a saint was St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton, a convert from the Episcopal Church. And I made a mistake – I should have said native born citizen, not native American for as one of the commenters correctly pointed out Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha who is a native American is not canonized as of yet. For those who are interested, St. John Neumann, bishop of Philadelphia is also the first United States bishop to be canonized.

I bought a copy of the 4 volume Liturgy of the Hours, in 2004. They were printed in 2001. And yet, they list St. John Neumann, canonized in 1971, as "Blessed".

Now, with the ICEL revised texts taking "too long" in some people's minds, I point you to the ICEL and Catholic Book Publishing's glacial progress in updating the LOTH. 30 years, and the US and Canada have many new saints added to the calendar, and how many of them are absent our LOTH books?

Can you post what you know about Martyr Datian? I can find no reference, other than to a Datian who was a roman ruler, and torturer of Christians in the 4th century. Did he later convert? Or is this a different Datian.

St. Datian was the jailor of St. Vincent of Sarragasso Martyred in 304. Datian, also spelled Dacian who had ordered Vincents torture,instantly converted when a beam of light blew the doors to the dungeon and Vincent's cell and angels surrounded him as he died. Datian was later martyred himself.I have often visited St. Datian myself and find it sad that the story of a fellow christian who was so highly regarded as to have been declared a Saint has been erased from institutional memory of the Church.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

MONDAY - Monday Diary: A day in the life of a priest.TUESDAY - Quote Tuesday: A post of an interesting quote along with various other things sitting on my computer from the past week such as links, polls, pictures, videos, or games.WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY - Thoughts for your consideration either from me or guest bloggers.FRIDAY - Friday Popourri - A grab bag of regular topics from symbolism to vocation stories.